Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Radiation-hardening could lighten spacecraft

"The space community is eager to find ways to produce space-hardened microelectronic devices using only everyday commercial chip-making technologies, Cressler says. The savings in cost, size and weight could be very significant.

"Silicon-germanium is a top candidate for this application because it has intrinsic immunity to many types of radiation. The catch is that, like other materials, SiGe cannot stand up to the extremely destructive heavy ions present in galactic cosmic rays. At least, not yet. "